Nashville banks grow talent pool

Career training programs beefed up after years of neglect

Nov. 3, 2013

Gina Grisham is the next generation of banker at the Bank of Nashville. Local banks are trying to fill gaps in the pipeline after training programs had been stopped or scaled back in the past decade. / John Partipilo / The Tennessean

In Nashville, which has become a hotbed for new banks seeking to capitalize on a growing market, banks have invested heavily in luring top talent that can bring big clients with them, but some worry that it comes at the expense of growing banking’s next generation.

“There is this real gap,” said Bill Menkel, CEO of Metropolitan Bank’s Nashville market. “You are going to have some really old guys like me and then you are going to have a bunch of young people who have no experience. You don’t have that middle (group). … It’s a function of cost savings, not being focused in that direction and thinking short term instead of long term.”

Ten to 15 years ago, many large banks facilitated six-month or yearlong training programs that allowed younger bankers to rotate through different departments before carving a niche in one particular area. While beneficial to the banks and bankers in training, the programs were costly and often eliminated. When the financial crisis unfolded in 2008 and banks suffered huge losses tied to bad loans and plummeting investments, spending on training fell even further.

Now, five years after the crisis began, banks are beginning to beef up their efforts to strengthen the long-term flow of talent. Fifth Third Bank, Bank of Nashville, Regions and SunTrust are among banks operating in Nashville that are seeking to add recently graduated staff who will participate in either restarted or new training programs that give them exposure to different banking departments.

“We’ve been less aggressive at filling spots within that program based on our projected needs, so we are projecting growth and adding folks,” said Rob McNeilly, CEO of SunTrust’s Nashville division. “Our aspirations are more-than-normal growth. … To really get our ultimate aspiration of revenue growth, we will need new, additional talent.”

To groom that talent, Atlanta-based SunTrust is expanding a 12-month training program for its business banking sector and is interviewing to hire about 30 recent college graduates, with close to 10 students in Middle Tennessee competing for a position.

Don Abel, CEO of Fifth Third Bank’s Tennessee’s market, said his bank began rejuvenating its training program three or four years ago, even in the midst of the industry’s woes, wanting to think long term and be in a better position than competitors coming out of the recession. The bank is recruiting from across the U.S. and Abel expects to hire one of the graduates of the training program for Nashville’s offices in the next year, hopefully from area universities, as well as be able to continue hiring higher up the ranks.

“When (we) were coming up, banks typically had pretty extensive training programs,” he said. “The amount of money invested in training at the lower end has been something the industry has seen shrink. … (Bringing back the training program) gives us a lot of confidence that we are better positioned to take advantage of those investments we have made and expenses we have paid than some of our competitors.”

Synovus Bank, the Georgia-based holding company of Bank of Nashville, similarly restarted a training program that existed eight years ago to focus on growing talent from within, said Bank of Nashville President Bill Nigh. The program, relaunched in 2012, also includes about 10 new people each year throughout Synovus, and could mean one new hire for Bank of Nashville’s office.

Regions also is adding to its earlier stage hiring to prepare for the improving economy, according to Jim Schmitz, Regions Middle Tennessee area president.

For Metropolitan Bank, which is seeking to double its staff to 30 or 40 people, hiring younger bankers can mean access to the growing population of young people moving to Nashville, opening accounts and buying apartments.

“There is this huge group emerging of affluent, college-educated, (those) getting started in careers who want to live in an urban setting,” Menkel said. “We have to figure out how to touch them.”

“It’s time that banks refocus on talent management,” said Brad Barrett, outgoing president of the Tennessee Bankers Association. “The industry has taken a bit of a (public relations) beating in the last five years. For the sins of a few, thousands have paid a price. We want to make sure people understand that banking is a great career opportunity.”

The association offers courses to new bankers, and Colin Barrett, who is the new president of the association and Brad Barrett’s son, said he is seeing enrollment increase after three or four years of declines caused by a weakening economy that has weighed on loan demand, and thus hiring.

“It’s starting to pick back up again after several years where there were not people coming into the industry,” he said.

The association is also working with Tennessee State University and other Tennessee colleges to develop a summer internship model that would help banks expose interns to a range of jobs in the industry, an effort meant to give banks an opportunity to test run a potential hire and give students more exposure to the industry.

The message that the association wants to spread is that banks, despite their tarnished image, have positive roles in the community and offer a diversity of career opportunities. And with many banks populated with baby boomers, younger bankers have the potential to more quickly climb the ranks.

“Quite frankly, there are people of my generation that are retiring and there is going to be opportunities there,” Brad Barrett said. “We’d like to see the best and the brightest consider banking.”